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GAO-08-853R:
June 13, 2008:
Congressional Committees:
Subject: Global War on Terrorism: Reported Obligations for the
Department of Defense:
Since 2001, Congress has provided the Department of Defense (DOD) with
hundreds of billions of dollars in supplemental and annual
appropriations for military operations in support of the Global War on
Terrorism (GWOT).[Footnote 1] DOD's reported annual obligations
[Footnote 2] for GWOT have shown a steady increase from about $0.2
billion in fiscal year 2001 to about $139.8 billion in fiscal year
2007. To continue GWOT operations, the President requested $189.3
billion in appropriations for DOD in fiscal year 2008. As of May 2008,
Congress has provided DOD with about $86.8 billion of this request,
including $16.8 billion for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.
Congress has not finalized action on the remaining $102.5 billion. In
addition, the President also requested about $66 billion in
appropriations for DOD in fiscal year 2009 for GWOT, which was
submitted along with DOD's annual budget request. The United States'
commitments to GWOT will likely involve the continued investment of
significant resources, requiring decision makers to consider difficult
trade-offs as the nation faces an increasing long-range fiscal
challenge. The magnitude of future costs will depend on several direct
and indirect cost variables and, in some cases, decisions that have not
yet been made. DOD's future costs will likely be affected by the pace
and duration of operations, the types of facilities needed to support
troops overseas, redeployment plans, and the amount of equipment to be
repaired or replaced.[Footnote 3]
DOD compiles and reports monthly and cumulative incremental obligations
incurred to support GWOT in a monthly Supplemental and Cost of War
Execution Report. DOD leadership uses this report, along with other
information, to advise Congress on the costs of the war and to
formulate future GWOT budget requests. DOD reports these obligations by
appropriation, contingency operation,[Footnote 4] and military service
or defense agency. The monthly cost reports are typically compiled
within the 45 days after the end of the reporting month in which the
obligations are incurred.[Footnote 5] DOD has prepared monthly reports
on the obligations incurred for its involvement in GWOT since fiscal
year 2001.
Section 1221 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2006[Footnote 6] requires us to submit quarterly updates to Congress on
the costs of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
based on DOD's monthly Supplemental and Cost of War Execution Reports.
This report, which responds to this requirement, contains our analysis
of DOD's reported obligations for military operations in support of
GWOT through March 2008. Specifically, we assessed (1) DOD's cumulative
appropriations and reported obligations for military operations in
support of GWOT and (2) DOD's fiscal year 2008 reported obligations
through March 2008, the latest data available for GWOT by military
service and appropriation account.
Over the years, we have conducted a series of reviews examining funding
and reported obligations for military operations in support of GWOT.
Our prior work[Footnote 7] has found the data in DOD's monthly
Supplemental and Cost of War Execution Report to be of questionable
reliability. Consequently, we are unable to ensure that DOD's reported
obligations for GWOT are complete, reliable, and accurate, and they
therefore should be considered approximations. Based on this work, we
have made a number of recommendations to the Secretary of Defense
intended to improve the transparency and reliability of DOD's GWOT
obligations. For example we have recommended that DOD (1) revise the
cost reporting guidance so that large amounts of reported obligations
are not shown in "other" miscellaneous categories and (2) take steps to
ensure that reported GWOT obligations are reliable. In response, DOD is
taking steps to improve GWOT cost reporting. For example, DOD has
modified its guidance to more clearly define some of the cost
categories and is taking additional steps to strengthen the oversight
and program management of the cost reporting. Specifically, DOD has
taken steps to improve transparency by requiring components to analyze
variances in reported obligations and to disclose reasons for
significant changes, and to affirm that monthly reported GWOT
obligations provide a fair representation of ongoing activities.
Furthermore, in February 2007 DOD established a Senior Steering Group
including representatives from DOD, the Defense Finance and Accounting
Service (DFAS), and the military services in an effort to standardize
and improve the GWOT cost-reporting process and to increase management
attention to the process. DOD established a GWOT Cost-of-War Project
Management Office to monitor work performed by auditing agencies and to
report possible solutions and improvements to the Senior Steering
Group. DOD has started several initiatives to improve credibility,
transparency, and timeliness. One of the initiatives is a quarterly
validation of GWOT obligation transactions at each of the DOD
components with the goal of having a sampling of all types of costs
validated by the end of the fiscal year. Until all DOD efforts are more
fully implemented, it is too soon to know the extent to which these
changes will improve the reliability of DOD's cost reporting.
While establishing sound cost reporting procedures and oversight is
clearly important, the reliability of the cost-of-war reports also
depends on the quality of DOD's accounting data. Factors contributing
to DOD's challenges in reporting reliable cost data include long-
standing deficiencies in DOD's financial management systems. We are
aware that DOD has efforts under way to improve these systems as well.
We have also made recommendations to improve transparency and fiscal
responsibility related to funding the war on terrorism, and to permit
Congress and the administration to establish priorities and make trade-
offs among those priorities in defense funding. Specifically, we
recommended that DOD (1) issue guidance defining what constitutes the
"longer war against terror," identify what costs are related to that
longer war, and build these costs into the base defense budget; (2)
identify incremental costs of the ongoing GWOT operations that can be
moved into the base budget; and (3) in consultation with the Office of
Management and Budget, consider limiting emergency funding requests to
truly unforeseen or sudden events.[Footnote 8] We will continue to
review DOD's efforts to implement these recommendations as part of our
follow-up work on GWOT.
Scope and Methodology:
To conduct our work, we analyzed applicable annual and supplemental
appropriations from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2007 and for
fiscal year 2008 through December 2007, the latest GWOT appropriations
provided. We also analyzed DOD's monthly Supplemental and Cost of War
Execution Reports from September 2001 through March 2008, the latest
data available. Specifically, we identified appropriated amounts
intended for GWOT and reported GWOT obligations for each operation,
military service, and appropriation account.
We are continuing to review DOD's fiscal year 2008 funding and reported
obligations, including the reliability of the reported obligations. We
are also reviewing the processes, including models and other tools,
used to estimate GWOT funding requirements. We plan to report on this
work later this year.
We conducted this performance audit from May 2008 to June 2008 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Summary:
From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2007, and for the first
quarter of fiscal year 2008 through December 2007, Congress has
provided DOD with a total of about $635.9 billion for its efforts in
support of GWOT.[Footnote 9] DOD has reported obligations of about $562
billion for military operations in support of the war from fiscal year
2001 through fiscal year 2007 and for the second quarter of fiscal year
2008 through March 2008. The $73.9 billion difference[Footnote 10]
between DOD's GWOT appropriations and reported obligations can
generally be attributed to certain fiscal year 2008 appropriations and
multiyear funding for procurement; military construction; and research,
development, test, and evaluation from previous GWOT-related
appropriations[Footnote 11] that have yet to be obligated and
obligations for classified and other activities, which are not reported
in DOD's cost-of-war reports. As part of our ongoing work, we are
reviewing DOD's rationale for reporting its GWOT related obligations.
Figure 1 shows the increase in DOD's cumulative reported GWOT
obligations and cumulative GWOT appropriations from fiscal year 2001
through fiscal year 2007 and through the second quarter of fiscal year
2008 (October through March 2008).
Figure 1: DOD's Cumulative Reported GWOT Obligations and Cumulative
GWOT Appropriations for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2007 and through the
Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2008 (October through March 2008):
[See PDF for image]
This figure is a combination vertical bar and line graph depicting the
following data:
Fiscal year: 2001;
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $16.6 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $0.2 billion.
Fiscal year: 2002;
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $31 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $29.4 billion.
Fiscal year: 2003;
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $99.9 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $98 billion.
Fiscal year: 2004;
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $165.8 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $169.2 billion.
Fiscal year: 2005;
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $266.7 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $254 billion.
Fiscal year: 2006;
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $382.7 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $#54.5 billion.
Fiscal year: 2007;
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $549.1 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $492.2 billion.
Fiscal year: 2008 (October-March);
Cumulative GWOT appropriations: $635.9 billion;
Cumulative reported GWOT obligations: $562 billion.
Source: GAO analysis of DOD and appropriations data.
Notes: Reported GWOT obligations include Operation Noble Eagle,
Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and generally
reflect costs reported in DOD's cost-of-war reports. However, the
fiscal year 2002 and 2003 figures include about $20.1 billion that
according to DOD officials was war related but not reported in DOD's
cost-of-war reports. GAO has assessed the reliability of DOD's
obligation data and found significant problems, such that these data
may not accurately reflect the true dollar value of GWOT obligations.
[End of figure]
Of DOD's total cumulative reported obligations for GWOT through March
2008 (about $562 billion), about $435.1 billion is for operations in
and around Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and about $98.9
billion is for operations in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, the
Philippines, and elsewhere as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The
remaining about $28 billion is for operations in defense of the
homeland as part of Operation Noble Eagle.
As figure 2 shows, DOD's reported obligations for Operation Iraqi
Freedom have consistently increased each fiscal year since operations
began. The increases in reported obligations for Operation Iraqi
Freedom are in part due to continued costs for military personnel, such
as military pay and allowances for mobilized reservists, and for rising
operation and maintenance expenses, such as higher contract costs for
housing, food, and services and higher fuel costs. In addition, the
need to repair and replace equipment because of the harsh combat and
environmental conditions in theater and the ongoing costs associated
with the surge strategy announced in January 2007, which provided for
the deployment of additional troops, have further increased obligations
for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In contrast, DOD's reported obligations
for Operation Noble Eagle have consistently decreased since fiscal year
2003, largely because of the completion of repairs to the Pentagon and
upgrades in security at military installations that were onetime costs,
as well as a reduction in combat air patrols and in the number of
reserve personnel guarding government installations. Reported
obligations for Operation Enduring Freedom have ranged from $10.3
billion to $20.1 billion each fiscal year since 2003. Recent increases
in reported obligations for Operation Enduring Freedom are in part
caused by higher troop levels in Afghanistan, the costs associated with
training Afghan security forces, and the need to repair and replace
equipment after several years of ongoing operations.
Figure 2: DOD's Reported GWOT Obligations for Fiscal Years 2001 through
2007 by Operation:
[See PDF for image]
This figure is a stacked line graph depicting the following data:
Reported GWOT obligation per fiscal year:
2001: $0.2 billion;
2002: $29.1 billion;
2003: $68.6 billion;
2004: $71.3 billion;
2005: $84.8 billion;
2006: $98.4 billion;
2007: $139.8 billion;
Total, Operation Noble Eagle: $27.9 billion;
Total, Operation Enduring Freedom: $86.2 billion.
Total, Operation Iraqi Freedom: $378.1 billion.
Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.
Notes: Operation Iraqi Freedom began in fiscal year 2003; therefore no
obligations were reported in fiscal years 2001 and 2002 for this
operation. Reported GWOT obligations generally reflect costs reported
in DOD's cost-of-war reports. However, the fiscal year 2002 and 2003
figures include about $20.1 billion that according to DOD officials was
war related but not reported in DOD's cost-of-war reports. GAO has
assessed the reliability of DOD's obligation data and found significant
problems, such that these data may not accurately reflect the true
dollar value of GWOT obligations.
[End of figure]
In fiscal year 2008, through March 2008, DOD's total reported
obligations of about $69.8 billion are about half of the total amount
of obligations it reported for all of fiscal year 2007. Reported
obligations for Operation Iraqi Freedom continue to account for the
largest portion of total reported GWOT obligations by operation--about
$57 billion. In contrast, reported obligations associated with
Operation Enduring Freedom total about $12.7 billion, and reported
obligations associated with Operation Noble Eagle total about $89.3
million.
The Army accounts for the largest portion of reported obligations for
fiscal year 2008 through March 2008--about $51.7 billion, eight times
higher than the almost $6.3 billion in obligations reported for the Air
Force, the military service with the next greatest reported amount.
Among appropriation accounts, operation and maintenance, which includes
items such as support for housing, food, and services; the repair of
equipment; and transportation to move people, supplies, and equipment,
accounts for the largest reported obligations--about $38.4 billion.
Reported obligations for procurement account for about 21 percent of
reported obligations or about $14.5 billion. Of the $43.6 billion
provided to DOD for procurement in fiscal year 2007, approximately 22
percent, or $9.4 billion, has yet to be obligated and remains available
in fiscal year 2008.[Footnote 12] Figure 3 shows DOD's reported
obligations for fiscal year 2008 through March 2008 by DOD component
and appropriation account.
Figure 3: DOD's Reported GWOT Obligations for Fiscal Year 2008 through
March 2008, by DOD Component and Appropriation Account:
[See PDF for image]
This figure contains two pie-charts depicting the following data:
By DOD component:
Army: 74.1% ($51.7 billion);
Air Force: 9% ($6.3 billion);
Marine Corps: 6.5% ($4.5 billion);
Navy: 6.5% ($4.5 billion);
Other DOD components: 4% ($2.8 billion).
By appropriation account:
Operation and Maintenance: 55% ($38.4 billion);
Procurement: 20.8% ($14.5 billion);
Military personnel: 12.6% ($8.8 billion);
Other: 10.2% ($7.1 billion);
Military construction: 0.8% ($0.5 billion);
Research, development, test, and evaluation: 0.6% ($0.4 billion);
Working Capital Fund: 0.2% ($0.1 billion).
Overall total: $69.8 billion.
Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.
Notes: Obligation figures may not add to $69.8 billion because of
rounding. The "Other" portion of the appropriation account pie chart
includes programs designed to reimburse coalition countries for
logistical and military support, to train and equip the Afghan National
Army and Armed Forces of Iraq and to execute the Commanders Emergency
Response Program. GAO has assessed the reliability of DOD's obligation
data and found significant problems, such that these data may not
accurately reflect the true dollar value of GWOT obligations.
[End of figure]
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation:
We requested comments from DOD, but none were provided.
We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional
committees; the Secretary of Defense; the Under Secretary of Defense
(Comptroller); and the Director, Office of Management and Budget. We
will also make copies available to others upon request. In addition,
this report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-9619 or pickups@gao.gov. Contact points for our
Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on
the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report are
listed in the enclosure.
Signed by:
Sharon L. Pickup:
Director, Defense Capabilities and Management:
Enclosure:
List of Committees:
The Honorable Carl Levin:
Chairman:
The Honorable John McCain:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye:
Chairman:
The Honorable Ted Stevens:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Defense:
Committee on Appropriations:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Ike Skelton:
Chairman:
The Honorable Duncan L. Hunter:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Armed Services:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable John P. Murtha:
Chairman:
The Honorable C. W. Bill Young:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Defense:
Committee on Appropriations:
House of Representatives:
[End of section]
GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Sharon Pickup, (202) 512-9619 or pickups@gao.gov:
Acknowledgments:
In addition to the contact named above, Ann Borseth, Assistant
Director; Richard Geiger; Linda Keefer; Ron La Due Lake; Deanna Laufer;
Lonnie McAllister; and Eric Petersen made key contributions to this
report.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the President
announced a Global War on Terrorism, requiring the collective
instruments of the entire federal government to counter the threat of
terrorism. Ongoing military and diplomatic operations overseas,
especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, constitute a key part of GWOT.
These operations involve a wide variety of activities, such as
combating insurgents, training the military forces of other nations,
and conducting small-scale reconstruction and humanitarian relief
projects.
[2] According to Department of Defense, Financial Management
Regulation, 7000.14-R, vol. 1, "Definitions" (Dec. 2001), xvii,
obligations are incurred through actions such as orders placed,
contracts awarded, services received, or similar transactions made by
federal agencies during a given period that will require payments
during the same or a future period.
[3] For more information see GAO, Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding
Iraq: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight, GAO-07-308SP (Washington,
D.C.: Jan. 9, 2007), and Global War on Terrorism: Observations on
Funding, Costs, and Future Commitments, GAO-06-885T (Washington, D.C.:
July 18, 2006).
[4] DOD defines contingency operations to include small, medium, and
large-scale campaign-level military operations, including support for
peacekeeping operations, major humanitarian assistance efforts,
noncombatant evacuation operations, and international disaster relief
efforts.
[5] Department of Defense, Financial Management Regulation, 7000.14-R,
vol. 12, ch. 23. This regulation generally establishes financial policy
and procedures related to DOD contingency operations. Volume 6A,
chapter 2, and volume 3, chapter 8, of the DOD Financial Management
Regulation also include provisions to ensure the accuracy of cost
reporting.
[6] Pub. L. No. 109-163, § 1221(c) (2006).
[7] For more information see GAO, Global War on Terrorism: DOD Needs to
Improve the Reliability of Cost Data and Provide Additional Guidance to
Control Costs, GAO-05-882 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 21, 2005), and
Global War on Terrorism: DOD Needs to Take Action to Encourage Fiscal
Discipline and Optimize the Use of Tools Intended to Improve GWOT Cost
Reporting, GAO-08-68 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 6, 2007).
[8] GAO-08-68.
[9] From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2004, funding for
military operations in defense of the homeland (Operation Noble Eagle)
was included in DOD's emergency supplemental funding requests. Since
fiscal year 2005, DOD has requested funding for these operations as
part of its annual base budget request. Because Congress does not
appropriate funds by military operation, these amounts cannot be
separately identified in DOD's annual base appropriation. Therefore,
the $635.9 billion includes funding for Operation Noble Eagle only from
fiscal years 2001 through 2004.
[10] We calculated this difference by comparing available data on
appropriations and reported obligations. Since data on appropriations
for Operation Noble Eagle from fiscal year 2005 through fiscal year
2007 are unavailable, the difference between DOD's GWOT appropriations
and reported obligations may be larger.
[11] Appropriations for military personnel and operation and
maintenance are usually available for 1 year, while appropriations for
research, development, test and evaluation are usually available for 2
years; procurement funds (with the exception of shipbuilding funds,
which are sometimes available longer) are usually available for 3
years; and military construction funds are usually available for 5
years.
[12] The available fiscal year 2007 procurement funding as of March
2008 reflects an increase in funding available since our last report
examining DOD's reported obligations for GWOT--GAO, Global War on
Terrorism: Reported Obligations for the Department of Defense, GAO-08-
557R (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 17, 2008). According to DOD and Army
officials, the increase in funding is due to the correction of
inaccurately reported obligations. GAO has assessed the reliability of
DOD's obligation data and found significant problems, such that these
data may not accurately reflect the true dollar value of GWOT
obligations.
[End of section]
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